A regular meeting for participants of the “Bnos Melech” (“Daughters of the King”) program for 5th-6th grade students was held at Machon “Chaya-Mushka,” the leading educational institution of the Dnipro Jewish Community for girls. The meeting was dedicated to the important themes of sincere help, heartfelt warmth, and personal responsibility for one’s surroundings.
The lesson’s topic was the metaphor of the difference between fire and a flashlight. During the discussion, the girls, together with the program leader, Zivi Smilyanskaya, talked about how a flashlight can shine brightly, but only fire can not only illuminate a path but also provide warmth. Therefore, the task of every person is not only to “shine” by themselves through good deeds but also to radiate this outwardly with warmth and from a sincere heart, giving those around them a true feeling of care and involvement.
The lesson explored the images of Noach and Avraham, which clearly demonstrate two different approaches to responsibility for the world. The participants were explained why Noach is likened to a “fur coat,” which only warms the person wearing it, while Avraham is likened to a “furnace” that gives warmth to everyone around. It was discussed why specifically the active desire to warm others, to bring them out of spiritual cold and darkness, became the foundation for Avraham becoming the first Jew.
The practical part of the meeting included an interactive game where the girls performed tasks, answered questions, and recalled the studied material, as well as a special symbolic exercise with candles. Each participant wrote her name on a candle, after which the girls passed them to one another, leaving warm words, compliments, and pleasant memories related to each participant. In the end, each girl received her candle, filled with kind words from her friends.
“We wanted to show the girls that true help and good deeds are valuable not only in themselves but also through the warmth and sincerity with which they are performed,” says the head of the “Bnos Melech” program, Morah Zivi Smilyanskaya. “When we do something from the heart, it is felt by those we help and by our loved ones. This is precisely how the inner responsibility and spiritual maturity of every girl, young woman, and woman is formed, in accordance with the teachings of Torah and Chassidus, as it happens in our dear Dnipro Jewish Community under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki.”
